Beer: Ratings & Reviews

12 oz bottle into a pint glass. Thanks go to splax23 for this in trade.

Thick pour on this, as it comes out a hazy copper, with a finger of slightly off-white head. This retains with a thin creamy layer of froth that leaves some rather robust looking spotty froth down the sides of the glass.

The aroma is floral and spicy smelling, with a certain amount of stickiness to it from the notes of rye, bread, caramel, and citrus. Unfortunately this is also tinged with that same damn plastic band-aid of-flavor that I just picked up in the bottle of Hangin' Frank before this. Fortunately it's not as pronounced as it was in that beer but it is noticeable.

The taste is spicy and bitter on the palate with notes of citrus peel and some lighter grapefruit character. Bready rye pulls up the backend, along with sweeter caramel malt that offers up some balance. The finish is spicy at first but then gets progressively more dry and bitter on the tongue. The mouthfeel is mellow creaminess that sits on top of an extra thick syrupy feel. This does ease up as things warm but I'm not sure that I've ever felt a slushy body on a lighter beer like I did on this one. Very interesting.

This was certainly not a bad hoppy Rye beer here. The band-aid smell in the aroma pissed me off but is didn't absolutely ruin things or anything. The heavy body on this was really unique though and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it. I would definitely like to give this one a shot on draft sometime though to see how it compares.

4.0 A: First pour yielded about 6 fingers of head. Unfortunately the retention on this is pretty good so the subsequent pours took a long ass time. Clear orange amber color. Head is mainly frothy with great retention and plenty of lacing. Score would be higher if the first pour wasn't so grossly heady.

4.0 S: Certainly delivers on the hops. Pine, grapefruit, orange, and some mango. Earthy rye can still be detected under all of the hops along with a touch of toffee and some breadiness. Yeast is a little unclean. Pretty good.

3.0 T: Hops all the way in the taste as well, but I'll cover everything else first. Earthy and yeasty. Again, the yeastiness is a bit unclean. Rye can barely be distinguished that well under the hops and neither can anything else. As for the hops, this is blisteringly bitter, but there's plenty of hop flavor in there as well. Pine, grapefruit, and orange again with mango being more pronounced.

4.0 M: Medium body. Too much carbonation initially, but I let some of it dissipate. Good creaminess with a bitter aftertaste.

2.5 D: I wouldn't recommend this for anyone other than a seasoned IPA drinker and even then it's still a bit tough to get all the way through. Mouth destroyingly bitter. Good hop flavor, but much of the rest is covered up by hops.

Amber color with one finger of head that quickly settled to a thin cap. Moderate amount of spotty lacing is left on the the glass. The aroma is a combination of rye malt and piney hops. Sort of has a Pine-Sol aroma. I do not know what happened to the flavor. Has an astrigent flavor that is hard to get past. The rye and hops do not work that well together. Maybe not the best combination of ingredients. The other malt does not show up. Medium body with a nice carbonation. Good texture. The flavor falls short. I would not buy this again.

poured form the bottle a little too aggressively, a nice clay colored rye red with an ultra huge and bubbly three finger head leaving at least as much lace.

aroma of orange peel, grapefruit and hot spices.

super sharp and bitter from the first sip, and the bitterness doesn't fade, but instead, expands on the palate. not being a fan of super-bitter, this one just isn't for me - though it's not a bad beer.

T - Yowzerz! I remember reading this would scrape the enamel off your teeth and that is no joke. Intense bitterness up front like chewing on the peel of a grapefruit or orange. Lacks any kind of malt backbone to back it up however which gives it kind of a sickening bitter aftertaste. Would be fantastic if it had something else in the finish!

M - medium body, slight sticky, very light carbonation

D - At first this tastes great but the after taste is kind of gross. Too bitter in the finish but not a delicious hoppy bitterness like Sculpin or Huma-Lupa. While I'm glad I got to try this I think I'd pass on having it again.

12oz bottle purchased in Grand Rapids 4 weeks ago and stored in my "IPA fridge". The label indicates this is a "super hopped golden rye beer" in text under a picture of Rich. The beer pours a light copper color with a fat 2 fingers of wettish tan foam.

It smells nice, rich with hops aromas that are floral and spicy, although the spiciness might come from the rye. Almost a detergent-like component to the smell that could charitably be called a citrus aroma, or uncharitably just lemon pledge. I opt for the former, but I could see it getting in the way of enjoyment for some.

The beer tastes kind of bland to me. There's definitely a lot of peppery rye but it's missing balance as there are no sweet flavors from the malts or fruitiness from the hops. Kind of a dud taste-wise. The body's a little heavier than anticipated too, odd at such a low ABV with so little sweetness. Worth a try but only once.

Wow. Its listed as a rye, but the hops are substantial, Rich's Rye is immersed in hop flavor and bitterness. With its ample caramel and rye malt base, IPA doesn't really fit either. Sort of like Arrogant Bastard. The back end displays some abrasive bitterness, doesn't have the subtle touch that some new IPAs have. Piney and soapy in the finish. The hops hide some of the rye character, but rye is still their.

Medium to full body with a sticky feel.

Good stuff. I enjoyed Rich's Rye, but it seems like the bar for hoppy beers is raised higher and higher everyday and as such I can't give it too great a rating. Still, I'm glad its occupying my glass and I would gladly drink it again.

The beer pours a yellow-orange color with a white head. The aroma is rye, toffee and grassy hops. The flavor is rye, toffee and some citrus hops. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. A pretty good beer and nice to see something from Short's that wasn't infected.

A- Slow rising bubbles build up a two finger frothy white head. Copper body looks syrupy as I pour it from the bottle, very strange.

S- Yikes, tons and tons of hops, but it's incredibly bitter smelling. Nothing but pine and a bit of solvency. Not really impressive. A bit of a sweet backbone to it, but it really adds nothing to the brew.

T- Hmm, this things way too bitter. It's like biting into a pine cone. I get quick shots of a marker like taste in my mouth (solvent). This really isn't that good.

M- Sort of thick and syrupy, just like the pour alluded to. A touch of carbonation, but not much.

D- This beer wasn't horrible, but I probably wouldn't buy it again. It needs either more of a malt presence or less of a hop presence. The bitterness of the hops was too overwhelming.

A: Pours golden-amber into an over sized wine glass. A small, khaki head burns off quickly to leave a haze of near-full coverage on top. The lacing does not stick on the glass for long and small dots are left behind. The carbonation bubbles are relatively small in number and swim lazily to the top of the glass.

S: Lots of rye and pine-y, earthy hops dominate the scent. There is a small amount of orange and orange zest evident to my nose, as well. There is a bit of an undesirable plasticine smell that I have achieved in some of my homebrew. For that, I have mark down the smell score a bit. However, as the beer warms, that scent fades a bit.

T: There is a healthy amount of spicy rye that just parks right on the tip of my tongue, accompanied by bitter, orange and earth hops on the sides of my palate. There is also a fairly sweet plum-like malt presence at the start of each sip. This is probably the biggest rye flavor that I've ever encountered in a rye beer and it's just a tad too much for my palate.

M: Bitter rye and hop bite is the lasting impression on my mouth. I would characterize the body as a light to medium-light.

D: This is a good time to time beer when I would really want a dry, bitter palate dominator. I would not want to session this, however.

Poured from a twelve ounce bottle into a standard pint glassCloudy, golden-amber in color, with a nice cascading, two-inch head of off-white foam.Aroma-Lots of juicy, citrussy hops-very aromaticTaste-Big onrush of earthy hops, peppery spiciness leading to a bone-dry finish. Long, lingering hop bite.Overall, spicy,hoppy, very dry. Big flavor, although it's all hop-leaf and rye. A citrussy balance could have put this brew over the top.A solid brew however.

S: Belgian yeast, mandarin orange, and other citrus fruits tickle the nose. Bready with the slightest bit of cane sugar in the back along with some grassiness. Fruit is abundant but the other aromas are rather muted.

T: Muted citrus fruitiness with a bit of bark upfront. Super waxy hop bitterness explodes in the middle and lingers all the way to the end, covering everything else. Holy crap this is hoppy... Finish is more of the same. Aftertaste is a lingering, filmy hop residue all over the inside of my cheeks and tongue.

M: Medium to full bodied, lightly carbonated, and viscous and heavy in the mouth. Chewy and dense all the way through with a messy finish and an aftertaste that lingers long after the beer is gone.

D: I want to state upfront that I like hoppy beers for the most part. That being said, this brew is beyond hoppy. This is cheek gouging, enamel destroying, tongue blisteringly bitter and I can't take it. I appreciate and understand the effort but this is just too much for me in every way.

Poured like thick molasis with a thin head. Amebery copper tones cloudy and dense. The smell is super dank, so good it almost smells perfect. A great hop presence backed up by a seemingly smooth rye malt. A great beer. Short's delivers again and again. Rich's Rye is no exception. Cheers

Pours a fairly standard and non-descript amber/brownish color with a small amount of head that leaves minimal lacing. Aroma is highly roasty with some strong malty notes coming through as well. Flavor is somewhat similar but with a distinct bitter hop presence that becomes the primary flavor. Mouthfeel is nice - smooth and not overly sticky. Decent beer, but not something I'd necessarily seek out again.

Bottle poured into a pint glass: a solid golden color with minimal head. Smells of rye, other grains, and pine.

Hop presence is through the roof in the taste, with some mild grainy flavors keeping a slight semblance of balance. Still, this beer is very hoppy with an extremely bitter finish. Despite the bitterness, it is a solid session beer and a very easy drinker.

A = Pours in an almost viscous, slimy way. Bubbles slowly rise into a dense, sticky styrofoam head that settles into a finger of very fine white bubbles and then slowly dissipate into a wisp of thin covering. Nice hazy amber orange color.

T = Very crisp high levels of bitterness that linger on and on in a sticky resinous way. Excellent! Peaches, over-ripe pears, hops, hops, hops, herbal chlorophyll with a slight astringency, geranium, resinous pithy grapefruit rind. Malt is buried and there is a lot of malt! Malt displays itself in subtle Graham cracker, vanilla ways.

I didn't sip sip sip sip savor this one, because I honestly didn't want to. Even an aggressive pour didn't result in much head, even though there seemed to be good carbonation levels in solution. It was a pretty attractive deep brownish-gold color, and nice and clear. The aromas were there but pretty basic - bitterness, some rye aromas, as expected.

The taste almost took a back seat to the thick, gross, mouthfeel - completely not what I would expect in this style. It was quite syrupy, something I'd expect from a 10% DIPA, not from something like this. The taste was, well, pretty straightforward. Bitter hops, overpowering rye, astringent finish.

Yet another stinker from Short's, one of the most disappointing brewers in my state.

Pour is caramel colour and it looks like syrup flowing from the bottle. It sort of fills the pint like oil and exhibits no bubbling. A slight spitty collar circles the glass, but there isn't much going on here for the eyeballs.

The smell is very nice. Dirty earthen leafy outhouse hoppy rye. Twig snaps and those little things that are in bread sometimes that you bite and they give off flavourings. Dried pants urine. Herbaliciousness. Slight pepperoni.

It tastes like beer with hops and rye. Bitter, bitter, chicken fritter. Baked good strangeness and a marvelous dry. Woody. Crisp. Heavy aftertastes and belchy hops.

The mouthfeel is like fluffy syrup. The consistency is unexpected, but it is very nice to pour through your face. It borders on heaviness but is buffered by something I can't explain.

The drinkability is decent. No problems dropping this one down the ole alimentary canal for a little in out. Glad I snatched this up off the shelf at Ladd's and Co. Another solid brew from the Great Lakes state.

Stamp on front label says 61110. I sure hope this is the 'bottled on' date.

Poured into my thick-walled old school stemmed Coors chalice a deep orange/copper color with a settled dense off-white 1/2" head. A little murky, but I can still see large bubbles of carbonation uprising at a lower than moderate pace. Nice shattered walls of lace all the way down.

Smells very ripe and fresh with lots of fragrant and zesty hops. A few swirls evoke more of the 'herb-like' qualities of the hops. Yep, a little cannabis I detect. I also detect a maltiness that comes a bit indirectly, by deflecting off of the crisp hops I sense something a bit sweet to follow, (let's see...).

The hops are still keepin' the party hoppin' for sure. They're very pronounced in an earthy kind of way. Not fruity/tangy/puckering but a bit of white pepper spicy with lots of dry/bitter elements. There is a malt presence, but not much. The hops make the mouth dry and chalky with an interesting earthiness/mineral layer.

Mouthfeel is a tad oily with basically no carbonation to witness, but the medium body a little airy. Very chalky/dry quick finish.

Drinkability is decent. I'd swear I was drinking a solid pale ale if I didn't read what style it's 'supposed' to be.

Overall a good ale that still tastes & feels like a amped-up pale ale. The texture of this beer is very interesting because on one hand it feels flat, but on the other it's very airy & soft. There's a little hop burn on the inside of my cheeks that lingers for quite a while. Maybe it's the inherent spiciness from the rye malt, (I bet?). I bet the IBUs on this are very high too. Leave it to Short's to make you ponder after you've consumed one of their offerings. Good work on a very unique beer.

Something went horribly "a rye" with this beer.It poured a darker amber color with decent light brown head and tiny bubbles of carbonation. The aroma strikes you hard in the nose with large doses of spice and citrus and grassy notes (not pleasant ones) from rye and hops. It smells harsh, is one of the best ways to put this.

Now, just to clarify, I love me some hops. I love hops in rye beers. I think Founders Red's Rye PA is an excellent beer. But they went overboard somewhere in the hopping of this beer. It is horribly astringent. It sucks everything from your mouth and makes you feel like you are sucking a dry, stale hop. This is not a "hophead's beer." This is an example of how hops go wrong. Forget any sort of balance, spice and poor hop execution is this beer. No balance to speak of.

In addition to the astringincy the mouthfeel is also downright chewy and not at all pleasant. The drinkability is awful for one bottle, so what was a candidate for a quaffable beer at 4.9 just doesn't cut it. This was not a beer for me. But, just to temper, still love Short's! Keep pushing your envelope...hopefully in other directions.

A- pours slightly thick with the slightest transparency. copperish mixed with alil gold color. off white/tan color head which is thick and looks creamy. some sediment floating around.

S- rye and malty to hell mixed with a earthy and slight piney hop balance.

T- the hop bitterness is amazing!!! if this makes sence... it's watery (hydrating) but also leaves your mouth gasping for more. the rye sends a sharp malt kick and the crapload of of earthy and piney hops just make everything blend well.

M- a heavy/light body if you understand that. good carbonation.

D- for how heavy the body is it really goes down really smooth.

Overall- for being a hophead this brew i highly recommend to anyone who loves the bitterness. what got me was the words on the bottle "supper hopped golden rye beer" and comming from short's with their huma lupa i had to try it.